Friday, December 5, 2008

Amen, Lord

Happy Friday!

Yesterday's passage in Jeremiah 11 ended with Jeremiah saying, "Amen, Lord". That's something we should say, no matter what the Lord asks of us. The word Amen can be translated to "So Be It". No questions, no hesitations, just "Amen, Lord".

Today's verses are 6 - 11 : "The Lord said to me, ' Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; "Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them. From the time I brought your forefathers up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, ' Obey me'.

But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep".

Then the Lord said to me, ' There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. They have returned to the sins of their forefathers, who refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their forefathers. Therefore this is what the Lord says: ' I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them'".

I read on a dear friend's blog, a prayer by Reverend Billy Graham, read by his daughter on the CBS Morning Show on Thanksgiving Day this year. What I love about Billy Graham is that he boldly proclaims the gospel without EVER sugar coating it, and I think he nailed this right on the head about our country and the sins we have given way to. I thought it fit in very well with all that we've been reading and studying in Jeremiah, and how the people of Israel had fallen into the sins of their forefathers.

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.Search us, oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen.”As families gather for the holiday, please remember there is no reason to have a holiday called Thanksgiving unless there is Someone to thank.Thanks to God and Jesus Christ His Son for all the blessings on our fair land".



Pray for our nation, and that we not only see our sin, but that "we, his people, who are called by His name, will humble themselves and pray and seek his face and turn from our wicked ways, THEN He will hear from Heaven and will forgive our sin and will heal our land". II Chronicles 7: 14



"AMEN, LORD".



Have a blessed Friday...

Janelle

3 comments:

Rhonda said...

That was an AWESOME prayer from Billy Graham. It totally takes the spin off things and reveals the truth of what has gone on in America for far too long. I LOVE this country and I pray that God will have mercy on us and cause hearts to turn back to him again. God Bless...Rhonda

Countryfolk Keepsakes said...

AMEN!!!
~Peanut

Farmhouse Blessings said...

Amen sister!

Lea